


Five Golden Rings

by sullymygoodname



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Angst and Feels, I Came Here To Make You Cry, M/M, Wedding Feels, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:20:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21814333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sullymygoodname/pseuds/sullymygoodname
Summary: Patrick pauses the video there... He's glad that Ray hadn't edited anything out. Every moment of their wedding video is solid gold.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 58
Kudos: 70
Collections: Schitt's Creek Open Fic Night 2.0





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> See end notes if you need spoilers.

* * *

> "Alexis, I hope you trip in your new Manolos—Hiiiii," David said, turning to grin sweetly into the camera. "We can edit that out later, right?"
> 
> "Of course," came Ray's voice, louder from behind the camera. "Now, just the two of you, what would you like to say to your future selves?"
> 
> Patrick, with his arms around David's waist, holding him close, ducked his head. He had no idea what to say to his future self. He knew what he would say to his past self: _You get **this**. You get to be this happy._ He smiled into the camera then. "Dear future us, I hope we're as happy in fifty years as we are on this day."
> 
> "You _hope_ we're as happy?" David's head reared back. "Why would we not be happy? Oh god, did you say _fifty_ years? I'd be..." The camera zoomed in on his face, eyebrows and mouth mirror grimaces.
> 
> "You'll be as beautiful as you are right now," Patrick said, pulling him even closer. David rolled his eyes, but his face melted into a true, real smile. He leaned down and their lips met in a kiss, blurry until the image zoomed all the way out—  
> 

Patrick pauses the video there, just to stare at it. David's arms around his neck, the silver floral brocade of his white suit jacket glinting in the light, complementing the navy of Patrick's jacket and the blue and gray tartan of his kilt. He glances over at David in the bed beside him. "We'll definitely still be this happy in fifty years."

He's glad that Ray hadn't edited anything out. Every moment of their wedding video is solid gold. Scrolling back on the laptop, Patrick hits play at the end of the ceremony again.

> In the beautifully framed shot, David and Patrick stood beneath the arch of the chuppah, sparsely draped in silver and blue ribbons of fabric overlaid with delicate pink and white flower chains. David held Patrick's hand as he slipped the ring onto his finger.
> 
> "You make me the best version of myself. Let this ring be a symbol of my promise to you," David said, his voice wavering only the smallest amount, "to love you forever and always."
> 
> At this point, Patrick was crying, but he'd already said his bit. He gripped David's hands while Ronnie pronounced them husband and husband. As they shared the first kiss of their marriage, a perfect gust of wind rained cherry blossom petals all around them. Alexis jumped and clapped, gleefully, pink and white bouquet bouncing in her hands. Stevie surreptitiously wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her dark gray suit jacket. On Patrick's other side, his cousins Ben and Allison lit up with wide smiles only enhanced by the gleam of tears in their eyes.
> 
> Shaking her hair back, Stevie produced the wrapped glass and set it down beneath the chuppah. Together, leaning into one another and holding each other up, David and Patrick brought their feet down as one.
> 
> It took two uncoordinated tries, but on the successful stomp and the crunch of glass, a string quartet began to play _'The Best'_. Triumphantly, they turned toward the camera, toward their assembled family and friends, with their clasped hands raised.  
> 

Pausing again, Patrick looks down at the simple gold band on his finger. It shines as brightly and beautifully as the day David gave it to him. The inscription, _Forever & Always_, is on the inside, a promise and a private message just for him.

He fast-forwards through their procession back up the aisle, the way they stroll arm-in-arm, already looking drunk on joy, with Stevie and Allison behind them, Alexis and Ben following. He skips through the post-ceremony photo session montage because he knows that David has opinions about some of Ray's song choices, especially the Carole King. He watches a quick clip of his mother trying to smooth his hair down, and David ruffling it back up again. And the part when the wind kicked up, rippling Alexis's silver gown and lifting Ben's kilt all the way up, everyone screaming laughter. He's pretty sure Stevie took pictures of that with her phone and shared them only with David.

He leans in and pays attention when the camera catches up with him and his parents after the photo session.

> "Just let me fix your hair, sweetheart," his mom said, reaching up and trying to smooth her hand over his head.
> 
> Patrick ducked out of the way. "Mom, this is why I keep my hair short now, so I don't have to fix it."
> 
> His father flanked Patrick's other side, and they both squeezed him between them. "We're just so proud of you, son. You and David."
> 
> "You both look so handsome." His mom reached up again, this time to cup his chin and kiss him on the cheek, leaving pink lipstick marks behind. "Oh, let me get that—"
> 
> "Okay!" Patrick ducked again, away from her thumb, laughing. "Thank you. Both of you, thanks. I love you. David is waiting for me. I'll see you in there." He kissed his mom, hugged his dad, and hurried off to catch up with his husband. His mom moved into his dad's side and he wrapped his arm around her.
> 
> "Mr. and Mrs. Brewer," said Ray, circling around them, "so lovely to see you again. Might you have a few words for the happy couple?"
> 
> They both looked into the camera with bright eyes and watery smiles. "We're just so, so proud of you boys," his mom echoed, and his dad finished with, "And we wish you both many years of love and happiness."  
> 

He can't help but smile over at David. In the past, Patrick never could have imagined the capacity of love his parents have for him, or how happy he could make them just by being himself, by _finding love_ , by being loved in return. His parents love him and, more importantly to Patrick, his parents love David, as well.

The video advances well into the reception, past the wedding party announcement and arrivals, before Patrick hits play again. Getting more comfortable, he sits back to enjoy this part. David had initially felt trepidation about his mother singing at the wedding. It's not that he doesn't love watching her perform, but he'd confessed to Patrick an indistinct, undefinable anxiety about the prospect. In the end, of course he'd conceded. He would do just about anything to make Moira happy.

In the end, it turned out beautifully.

> The Jazzagals made a soft semicircle in front of Gary the DJ's table, Moira at the center, her gold ostrich feather gown catching all the light and reflecting it back. A shining star.
> 
> The lights lowered. David and Patrick took the floor, their first dance as a married couple.
> 
> In a spotlight of her own, Moira began to sing: " _There are places I'll remember, all my life, though some have changed..._ " The lights lifted, just a bit, to reveal Twyla and Jocelyn as they joined in, followed by the rest of the Jazzagals.
> 
> Wrapped up in each other's arms, they danced through the song. No fancy moves, or rehearsed steps, they only had eyes for one another. Then David tucked his face down into Patrick's neck, as Moira sang directly to him: " _In my life, I'll love you more._ "
> 
> This was the moment of their wedding day when David started crying.  
> 

Patrick watches the rest of their dance, but quickly jumps past the closeup of David's snotty, tearful face. Ray probably could have edited that particular shot out. David has certainly said as much. But looking at it now, Patrick's grateful that they have this record, every moment of it.

He presses play again, laughing out loud at what he sees, and remembering every exhilarating emotion as he watches them broadcast across his own face.

> Four of Patrick's cousins were carrying him in his chair, trying to follow along with the dance that Johnny had started, Patrick's father clapping along with absolutely no rhythm. David, being hoisted by another group, shrieked, "No, no, no! Be careful, my husband is wearing a skirt!"
> 
> "It's not a skirt, David," Patrick called back, barely heard over the music and cheering.
> 
> Suddenly, the camera swung wildly to the ceiling then around and sideways. (This was when Ray tripped over someone's feet. He was fine.) The video cut to a slow pan of the dessert table—  
> 

"Oh, the butter tarts," Patrick says, smiling over at David. "You ate so many. How did neither of us throw up that night?" He shakes his head, laughing softly, before turning back and scrolling past all of Ray's... artistic transitional shots, and the frenetic, juddering snatches of people dancing, only pressing play again when he sees David's face.

> "—off, Alexis! I want to make out with my husband. Who gave you a camera, anyway." David flapped one hand at the camera, the other arm draped around Patrick's shoulders. Patrick's cheeks were very red, his eyes a little glazed.  
> 

"You let me get so drunk," Patrick says. He's sure he's not imagining the incredulous set of David's eyebrows. "Yeah, yeah. You were pretty tipsy, too."

> "Um, Ray deserves a break, David. Also, this is fun and I'm, like, _really_ good at it. You already missed Dad doing that weird old man dance from, like, the fifties, and Roland splitting his pants."
> 
> "I did not miss that," David retorted, "and I very much wish that I had."
> 
> Under David's arm, Patrick scooted in closer and tipped his head against David's chin, smiling dopily at the camera.
> 
> "Babe!" The video whirled, a smear of colors, until there was nothing but Ted's face.
> 
> "Babe!" Alexis's voice rang behind the camera, very close, a little distorted. The image blurred again, spinning in a dizzying haze, swaying upside-down and pointing at the edge of the silver on white damask tablecloth. "Okay, this thing is getting heavy," Alexis's voice sounded again, farther away. "Stevie! Stevie, here, you can make David talk."
> 
> With a dull thunk, the picture became steady again. Stevie leaned forward, her upside-down face filling the screen. She reached out, picked up the camera, righting it in the process, and turned it back on Alexis. With one hand under her chin, and the other dangling in the air to one side, Alexis struck a few poses, blowing kisses and smiling flirtatiously over her bare shoulder.
> 
> "Okay, that's enough of you," David said, picking up a napkin and hurling it at her. It fluttered delicately to the floor.
> 
> "Ew!" Alexis jumped back, flicking her fingers down the fabric of her dress. The camera backed up to get them both in frame. "Oh my god, David! You don't have to be the center of attention all day. Not everything is about you."
> 
> "This whole day is _literally_ all about me!" Beside him, Patrick cleared his throat and David wobbled his head in a strange nod, eyes half-closing. "Us. This day is about us."
> 
> Patrick folded his lips inward, curving up just at the very edges, and leaned into David's space, eyes focused solely on his mouth, David looking back at him. The camera panned away.
> 
> The music changed, the opening beats of _Uptown Funk_ vibrated through the speakers, and Ted's whole face lit up. "Oh, babe!"
> 
> A loud bang shook the table, startling plates and cutlery, sending shock waves through glasses of champagne. The camera panned back.
> 
> "I banned this song specifically for this reason!" David shouted over the music, ungainly flopping back into his seat. The camera oscillated between them.
> 
> "They're playing our jam!" Ted grabbed Alexis by the hand and tugged her toward the dancefloor. She went, but not before looking directly into the camera and saying, "Not our jam."
> 
> "I added it back to the approved list," Patrick said, and the camera swung back to catch him rubbing David's knee with one hand and running his fingers through David's hair with the other.
> 
> "Why would you do such a thing on my special day? _Our_ special day." David's eyes closed and he leaned into Patrick's touch.
> 
> "Specifically for this reason." Patrick pointed to the dance floor, and the camera followed his finger. In the center of the floor, spotlighted and surrounded by a cheering crowd, Ted led the dance, knowing all the moves. Alexis danced beside him. She did not know the moves.
> 
> David groaned out loud. "I can't watch this." The camera panned back to him, leaning heavily against Patrick. "When do we get to make out?"
> 
> "Tonight," Patrick said, kissing him once on the cheek, quickly. "And tomorrow." He kissed him again, just skirting the edge of his mouth. "And the next day. Maybe not on Tuesday—" he kissed David again, full on the mouth, lingering, and pulled away with the soft, wet sound of lips parting, "—but definitely the day after that."
> 
> Chasing Patrick's mouth, eyes dark and set solely on his prize, David murmured, "What's wrong with Tuesday?"
> 
> Behind the camera, Stevie said, "Please just go make out somewhere private before David shoves his hand up your skirt."
> 
> As though pulled from a daze, David rolled his head to look directly into the camera. "He's wearing giant boxer shorts underneath."
> 
> "They're not giant; they're comfortable," Patrick said, exasperated. "And—"
> 
> "It's not a skirt," all three recited in unison.  
> 

Laughing, Patrick's eyes start to blur. He wipes the wetness away with his sleeve and tries to inhale deeply. When he looks up, Stevie is leaning against the doorframe watching him. Her dark eyes flick to David and linger there before dropping to the laptop Patrick has set up on the tray table over the bed. She can't see the screen from her position, but the audio is loud enough to hear across the room.

> "What about you, Stevie, my Best Person," David said, now sitting beside her. She'd aimed the camera back at herself so they were both in the shot. "Don't you have words for us on our wedding day?"
> 
> "Oh, I'm just here for cake," she said, staring straight into the camera.
> 
> "And the champagne," said Patrick, squeezing in on her other side, his eyes glassy but alert.
> 
> "Obviously." The video tipped upward for a second then back down until all three of them were in frame. Stevie now had a sparkling glass in hand. "Also," she said, taking a sip, "if you want to sneak out to the front patio and make out for twenty minutes, I'll cover for you."
> 
> David and Patrick glanced sideways at each other for half a second. They each leaned in and kissed Stevie on both cheeks, before scrambling out of their seats.
> 
> "You're the best and we love you," David whispered to her, grabbing Patrick by the back of his jacket and dragging him away, leaving Stevie laughing into the camera.  
> 

Turning the volume down, but letting the video continue, Patrick looks to Stevie again, asking a question with his eyes. The same question he's asked every day this week: _'Won't you come in and sit with us for a while?'_

But she shakes her head, hiding in her curtain of hair, the shadowy doorway swallowing her up. She can't bear to be in this room, not since that first day, when she'd sat in a chair in the farthest corner, waiting for the rest of them to show up. Patrick knows she feels badly about it, but he nods to her: _It's okay._ He gets it. It's the same deep, gut-gnawing dread he has when he thinks about leaving. About going outside for fresh air. About going home by himself and sleeping in his and David's bed. Alone.

Stevie slips away, out of the shadows and back into the brightly lit corridor, back out into the world with no news to share. Patrick turns back to the laptop, raises the volume just enough to hear. Enough so that David might hear, as well.

> "—ear Diary, my best friends got married today. And I got free champagne." Stevie held up a nearly empty glass. She was moving through the crowded room, still pointing the camera at herself. "We're going to check out the gift table. If they got that food processor David wanted, I'm stealing it because we all know David won't use it."
> 
> "Stevie!"
> 
> The video wobbled with a _whumpff_ , spun sideways, went almost completely black for an instant, then came back into focus on two pairs of shoes, a set of shiny black oxfords and rounded silver ballet flats.
> 
> "Oh, Mr. Rose. I didn't see you there."
> 
> "What's that you've got?" Their voices were faint, the thumping bass of the music creating a warbly dissonance.
> 
> "Um. I think it's Ray's camera. I should probably give it back to him."
> 
> "Oh. Oh, well I just saw Ray. He's dancing with, uh, with I think one of Patrick's aunts."
> 
> "Ah. Um. Best not to disturb him then." The video whirled again, lights and colors and flashes of people, until it stopped on Johnny's face. "Mr. Rose," Stevie said, voice much more clear now, "do you—have any words for David and Patrick? For the future? I think that's what I'm supposed to be doing with this thing."
> 
> "Oh," Johnny said, standing a little straighter. It was clear that he'd been enjoying the champagne, as well. "Oh, some—some words of wisdom. Yes, yes, of course. For my son. On his wedding day! You know, we never thought we'd see the day. Alexis, sure, but David?"
> 
> "Mr. Rose."
> 
> "Right. Right." He straightened his shoulders again, and looked into the camera. "Son. David. And Patrick, you're our son now, too, and we—Moira and I, we couldn't be happier. You've both come a long way since..." He blinked, stumbling over his words there a bit. "Uh, but not to dwell on the past. Everyone has a past. I certainly had my share of... uh. That's not—that's not important. Looking to the future, is why we're here. To celebrate your life together."
> 
> "Do you have advice, maybe? For marriage?"
> 
> "Of course! Of course. You can't be married as long as we have without gaining some knowledge. Some tips and tricks and hard truths. Marriage is a partnership. Well, but, you're already a partnership... Ah, hm. It's much more than—it's—it's like—" Johnny rubbed his forehead, just above one eyebrow. "No. Wait. I'll start over. Can we edit this out?"
> 
> "Yeah, that's not really my department."
> 
> "Oh, uh-huh. Okay. Let me..." His eyebrows went up, and he smiled. "Ah, I've got it. Here it is, kids." Johnny held a hand up, index finger raised, and nodded at the camera. "One important thing. You wake up every day, and just love each other," he said, smiling now, "and you'll get through anything."  
> 

He stops the video there, blinking as tears begin to fall, rolling down his cheeks. Patrick closes the laptop and pushes the tray table away. He reaches across the blankets and places his left hand over David's, entwining their fingers together. The nurses had removed David's rings, initially, but Patrick had slid each one back into place as soon as David was settled in his room. Now all five of their gold wedding bands shimmer in the dim room, softly reflecting the blinking monitor lights

"David," Patrick shudders out on a shaky breath. He brings David's hand to his lips, holds it there, kissing prayers into his skin. "David, please wake up."

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

# ___/\\_____ ____/\\____ _____/\\___ __/\\______ ____/\\____ _____/\\___ ___/\\_____

* * *

_ D a v i d _ 


"Patrick?"

_D a v i d_ 


"Patrick, I can hear you."

_David, _ _please __wake up._ 


"Patrick? I'm here! I'm right—"

A strong and sudden tug occurs somewhere deep inside him, a sinking within himself, a feeling like drowning in stars, a twisting of time, and being pushed into open air.

Then the darkness is gone.

David finds himself in a hospital room, the lights down low with the eerie not quite silence of bustling life happening in other places. He's looking down at the top of Patrick's head, bowed over a bed, asleep at an awkward angle. In the bed, hand cradled loosely in Patrick's, David sees himself, lying very still.

"Oh," David says, to no one. "Well, fuck."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Nobody is dead! I promise! I'm not sorry, but please do not fret! Everything will be all right. Eventually. Yes, that means there will be a sequel, all about David as definitely not a ghost, coming to an AO3 near you December 2020 (or sooner, but for sure by then).
> 
> Special thanks to Peeps, for beta reading and encouraging this murder by feels. And to all my buddies for all your help. I hope you know who you are.
> 
> Here is the [String Quartet version of The Best](https://youtu.be/GzO6HbDcgf0) and the [acapella arrangement of In My Life](https://youtu.be/I98CO__kNPI) that I used as reference.
> 
> The title is, of course, from the Twelve Days of Christmas.


End file.
